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DAVID BARTLETT, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.

Letters Patent No. 85,421, dated December 29, 1868. i

IMPROVEMENT IN' WATER-WHEELS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

-Wheels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a fulland exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and the letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure l is a perspective view;

Figure 2, atop View, showing a portion of the caseV broken away to reveal the internal construction;

Figure 3, a perspective view of a portion of the curb;

and Figure 4 represents details of construction of the chutes and gate. y

This invention relates to that class of turbine wheels which has a side vfeed, opened'and closed by a ringgate, by means of a segment and a pinion upon a handspindle.

The improvement which I amabout-to describe consists in a new and more simple, substantial, and durable construction of the curb and gates.

A indicates the shaft,

B, the wheel, and

C, the top plate .of the curb, the latter being counected to the bottom plate, C', by means of upright partitions, forming between them the chutes W NV, for the passage of the water to the wheel.

For the purpose of increasing their strength, and at the same time directing the water in a more compact body upon the wheel, the partitions arc' not made in the form ofa single straight plate, but are made, as

' represented in detail in lig. 4, with one long straight outer edge of'the upper and lower plates of the curb,

thus supporting those two horizontal plates, and connecting them together in the most rigid and substantial manner.

I am aware that a curb ot' the general construction herein described has for a longtime been in public use, but I am not aware that in such a curb, having the walls a al a2 e3, or their equivalent, intervening between the chutes, the extension a?, ofthe wall a, running beyond the outer edge of the top and bottom plates of the curb, and supporting lthem both` clearout to that edge, on every side of the wheel, has ever heretofore been employed.

In connection with the wheel and curb above described, I employ a ring-gate, R, consisting' of one annular piece, r, at the upper edge, fitting closely around the outer edge of plate C, and a similar piece, c, at its lower edge, fitting in the same manner around the edge of' the lower plate, C', of the curb, and under the plates c4.

These two rings are connected firmly together by the upright curved plates 'nt m', each of which consti'- tutes a sliding door, that opens or closes the mouth of the chute in connection with which it operates.

Ihe ring-gate thus formed is partially rotated, in one direction or the'other, for the purpose of opening or closing the chutes, by means of rack-segments s s, pin ions pp, and a vertical spindle, provided with a hand? Wheel at its upper end.

I am well aware that a ring-gate operated'by a spind le is not new, as applied to water-wheels, and I do not broadly claim such a device as my invention.

If my wheel be carefully examined, it will be noticed that the upright plates m m', which open and closethe chutes, are constructed of two parts, one, m, lying close against the convex wall, e3, the other, m', extending outward from the end of the part m, at an angle of about forty-five degrees, more or less, and, when the gates are opened, iitting closely against the rear side of the wall ai, as seen in iigs. 2 and 4. This part m thus extends obliquely across the whole width of the gaterings r1", strengthening the gate and distributing the weight ofthe parts equally and'uniformly, while in the old form of gate, in which the part m is wanting, the two rings fr fr being 'connected only with the part m, and that at their inner edge, the device was weak, and liable to warp and break, especially should any heavy object come incontact with the outer edge of either ring, r or lr.

In addition to these advantages of construction, which relate chiefly .to the strength and durability of the curb and gate, my improved device, as above described, has this advantage, which is `au essential object of its construction, namely, that the parts af* and m', whether separately or conjointly,form a considerable extension to the length of the chute, gathering the currents and directing them into the chutes, and thereby greatly facilitating the flow of water to the wheel.

The additional strength imparted to they gate by the oblique supports n m', enables me 'to make the rings -r fr wider without increasing their thickness, and thus to elongate the chutes and enlarge their mouth, to as great a degree as possible or practicable, without loading down the apparatus with a great weight of useless metal. Inasmuch, however, as the parts m m' are added to the gate, and the rings r r are made somewhat wider than heretofore, its weight will be more or less increased; and to-sustain it, and enable it to work with perfect ease under thegreat he`ad of water in which it is employed, I support the whole gate upon trucks or rollers, Iv c, fastened 'by stud-bearings or journals to angle-iron plates, e e, which rest upon the bed-pieces or door F.

I do not broadly claim, as my invention, the use of friction-rollers to. support the gate of a water-wheel, for I am awarethat such rollers vhave been employed in connection with the upper ring of the gate, being constructed and arranged to rest upon andV trave-rse around the top plate() of the curb. Such a construction, however, has many and obvious disadvantages, and I consider my arrangement of the rollers beneath the lower ring, and immediately in contact with it, the rollers themselves being supported by plates e c, .en-

' tirely independent of the rings, and individually adjustable, both laterally and vertically, without moving the rings, as superior to every deviceJ of the kind, in point of simplicity, durability, cheapness, and perfection of operation. Y

Having thus described the several features of my invention.A

AWhatl claim, and desire to secure by Letters atent, is

In' combination with a curb, in which the wall a, of4

the chutes, is prolonged beyond the Wall a?, so as to form the projection a4, a ling-gate, in which the slides that open and close the chutes are constructed with the two parts m m', arranged, when open, to reinforce the parts as and (1*, all substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to'thisl specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

DAVID L. BARTLETT.

Witnesses:

C. F. MILLER, H. H. WAILDO. 

